Answers

Best Answer: No I don't own one, but I am a Harley Davidson Master Technician. I've worked on plenty of them, and riden every one I worked on. They're plenty fast, especially the Screaming Eagle V-Rod. It has a 1250cc engine instead of an 1150cc, along with other upgrades. It's not a road bike. V-Rod's don't do corners. They're light to light, straight line, street fighters, and WILL run with jap bikes in that instance, again, ESPECIALLY the S.E. V-Rod. You grab a handfull of throttle on that thing, and you BETTER be hanging on. V-Rod's aren't whipping the snot out of the jap bikes in NHRA drag races for nothing. The Vance and Hines Harley Davidson V-Rod wins consistantly, and I'm talking about the FINAL.

Things the Harley people probably forgot to tell you. The engine was designed by a german company-great power plant, lots of power and fun etc. The frame was designed by the same geniuses that give us the crappy sportsters. What that adds up to is that the engine has to be pulled every 6000 or so miles in order to adjust the valves on the bike. Seems the H-D engineers decided to forgo customer convience in order for the bike to be given a little "low and mean" look. Either that or they figured that most Vrods were gonna be used as toys and would never get more than 5 or 6 thousand miles on em. You will see a lot of VRODs up for sale when it comes near time to do the valve adjustment because the owners do not want to spend the big bucks needed to do what should be a simple proceedure. Either way, the bikes are probably the best engineered engine that Harley sells, it is just a shame they can't redesign the frame to alleviate this major expense for the owner.

I owned an 03 V-rod. Not a bad bike, reasonably good handling, good power for a harley, or any V-Twin. Porche engineering, German, Japanese and American heritage. You can buy one for about half of the local H.D. dealers out the door price. I bought an 03 in the Spring of 04 for $13,200. The guy paid 22,000 otd, and put some chrome on it. It wont run with the Sport bikes, nor even my 84 Honda 1100 V-4 Magna, but it will whip any other stock H.D., if it matters. They are all over the internet, like lots of H.D.s. Good luck.

excelent choice to the standard V-twin. Fuel injection dual overhead cams Porsche designed V twin engine power over 100 hp and dragster launch very fast 1/4 mile too. Ride carefully wear a helmet. I was in Kansas City two years ago toured the Harley Davidson plant and watched as they were being made and dyno tested.SWEET

The answers above are pretty much correct (I endorse them, being a veritable god among hampsters), however there are some things to consider ...
Yes, this is Harley's attempt to modernize somewhat ... after a century or so, it is probably a good idea to update your technology a little, and the V-Rod is their attempt to do so.
However, it is their first attempt, and as such, it is a bit like a baby's first attempt to walk ... it is cute, but it's not gonna win any races.
The V-Rod still (for some ungodly reason) relies on that foolish off-set v-twin. Makes it sound like an incontinent cow, and handle like one too.
And no, the Harley folks won't respect you when you pull up at Hooters on your V-Rod ... they'll snort and jingle their chains and spill their watered beer all over their black leather chaps.
If you want technology, try a company that has some experience in modernizing. Give Harley another century, and they may discover "opposed" engines.

I own the 2013 vrod muscle. The only real complaint for me is gas tank size, gas tank is under the seat. I wish if had a bigger gas tank but I do like to stop and stretch. It is crazy fast, scary amount of torque when at around the 4000 rpm range and opening throttle. Hard to find aftermarket items. There are a lot of items for the other models, especially when you see "except the muscle" for customizing